Apparatus for controlling vehicle and method thereof

Abstract

An apparatus for controlling a vehicle and method thereof includes an air injector that injects air of a preset target pressure to a driver of the vehicle, an ultrasonic transducer that transmits an ultrasonic wave to the driver and receives an echo of the ultrasonic wave, and a processor. The processor is configured to determine a skin stress of the driver based on the target pressure, determine a skin strain of the driver based on the echo, determine a skin stiffness of the driver based on the skin stress and the skin strain, and generate a vehicle sound by use of a volume function generated based on the skin stiffness.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus for controlling a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
 an air injector configured to inject air at a preset target pressure to a driver of the vehicle; 
 an ultrasonic transducer configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave to the driver and receive an echo of the ultrasonic wave; and 
 a processor operatively connected to the ultrasonic transducer and configured to:
 determine a skin stress of the driver based on the target pressure, 
 determine a skin strain of the driver based on the echo, 
 determine a skin stiffness of the driver based on the skin stress and the skin strain, and 
 generate a vehicle sound by use of a volume function generated based on the skin stiffness. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 determine a measured elastic modulus based on the skin stress and the skin strain, and 
 determine the skin stiffness based on the measured elastic modulus and a previously obtained reference elastic modulus. 
 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a volume function for determining a virtual engine sound based on driving information including at least one of revolutions per minute (RPM) of an engine, a torque of the engine, a vehicle speed, or an accelerator pedal opening amount and the skin stiffness. 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a first volume function for determining a volume according to the RPM of the engine based on the RPM of the engine and the skin stiffness. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a second volume function for determining an overall volume of the virtual engine sound based on at least one piece of information selected among the vehicle speed, the torque, and the accelerator pedal opening amount and the skin stiffness. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a volume function for determining a virtual motor sound based on driving information including at least one of RPM of a driving motor, a torque of the driving motor, a vehicle speed, and an accelerator pedal opening amount and the skin stiffness. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a third volume function for adjusting a pitch ratio of the virtual motor sound based on the RPM of the driving motor and the skin stiffness. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a fourth volume function for adjusting volume of each RPM section of the virtual motor sound based on the RPM of the driving motor and the skin stiffness. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate a fifth volume function for determining an overall volume of the virtual motor sound based on at least one piece of information selected among the vehicle speed, the torque, or the accelerator pedal opening amount and the skin stiffness. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate an electric component sound volume function for generating electric component sound based on the skin stiffness. 
     
     
       11. A method of controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:
 determining skin stiffness of a driver based on skin stress of the driver and a skin strain obtained based on an echo reflected by transmitting an ultrasonic wave to the driver; 
 generating a volume function in which at least one of a volume, a frequency, or waveform shape is set differently based on the skin stiffness; and 
 generating a vehicle sound based on the volume function. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the determining of the skin stiffness includes:
 determining, by a processor, the skin strain by injecting air of a preset target pressure to the driver; 
 transmitting, by the processor, the ultrasonic wave to the driver to determine the skin strain based on the echo of the returned ultrasonic wave; 
 determining, by the processor, a measured elastic modulus based on the skin stress and the skin strain; and 
 determining, by the processor, a skin stiffness based on the measured elastic modulus and a previously obtained reference elastic modulus. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 11 , further including:
 obtaining, by the processor, driving information including at least one of revolutions per minute (RPM) of an engine, a torque of the engine, a vehicle speed, or an accelerator pedal opening amount, 
 wherein the generating of the volume function includes generating a volume function for determining a virtual engine sound based on the driving information and the skin stiffness. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the generating of the volume function includes:
 generating a first volume function for determining a volume according to the RPM of the engine based on the RPM of the engine and the skin stiffness. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the generating of the volume function includes:
 generating a second volume function for determining an overall volume of the virtual engine sound based on at least one piece of information selected among the vehicle speed, the torque, and the accelerator pedal opening amount and the skin stiffness. 
 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , further including:
 obtaining, by the processor, driving information including at least one of RPM of a driving motor, a torque of the driving motor, a vehicle speed, and an accelerator pedal opening amount, 
 wherein the generating of the volume function includes generating a volume function for determining a virtual motor sound based on the driving information and the skin stiffness. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the generating of the volume function includes:
 generating a third volume function for adjusting a pitch ratio of the virtual motor sound based on the RPM of the driving motor and the skin stiffness. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the generating of the volume function includes:
 generating a fourth volume function for adjusting volume of each RPM section of the virtual motor sound based on the RPM of the driving motor and the skin stiffness. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the generating of the volume function includes:
 generating a fifth volume function for determining an overall volume of the virtual motor sound based on at least one piece of information selected among the vehicle speed, the torque, or the accelerator pedal opening amount and the skin stiffness. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the generating of the vehicle sound includes:
 generating an electric component sound volume function for generating electric component sound based on the skin stiffness.